“It will enable you to tap into your more subtle perceptions and will give you the confidence to trust yourself and your own decisions.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE PSYCHIC?

Our psychic sense is the ability to communicate with the non-physical realms, to connect to our non-physical self, our inner self or our spiritual aspect.

“It is our capacity to gain information by accessing our own knowing and by tapping into the collective unconscious or universal ‘knowing’ about life,” Schultz says.

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?

If you have ever not taken a job, a trip or changed plans at the last minute because something didn’t feel right, that was your psychic sense guiding you.

For some people, psychic information comes from hearing or sensing sounds; others can sense past, present, future events or the presence of a person who has died.

Some of us have a strong psychic connection to particular people and can sense when they are going to call or when something is wrong. This is often so with children and their parents, and this strong connection can exist between pets and their owners.

HOW CAN WE USE IT?

While some people who are very attuned may choose to share their skills with others by doing psychic readings, first and foremost, our psychic sense should be used to guide us in our own lives, Schultz says.

“Our psychic sense gives us the ability to make the best decisions for ourselves by getting information from inside of us, not from our outer world. It can turn confusion and procrastination into decision making,” she says. By tapping into it, we can bypass justifying our actions and simply be guided by an inner ‘knowing’ of what’s right for us.

ARE THERE DEGREES OF PSYCHIC ABILITY?

The level of our intuition or psychic ability depends primarily on how much time and effort we have spent developing it, according to Schultz.

“Intuition is like anything; the more you do, the better you become at it,” she says. ”Anyone can develop their psychic ability.”

For some people, strong psychic experiences have been part of their life since childhood. “Kids are naturally intuitive,” Schultz says. “They don’t judge it, they just make it work for them. For example, children will often have a sense that a grandparent is unwell or unhappy, or might have a knowing that mum’s going to have another baby – before mum knows!”

For many of us, the psychic sense is very subtle and can be drowned out by a hectic and ‘noisy’ life. “It can be so faint that it can be missed if we don’t know how to listen to our inner self,” Schultz says.

CAN IT BE A PROBLEM?

When we are using our psychic ability to our greatest advantage, it can reward us with reassurance, hope and a deep sense of peace and safety. However, psychic experiences that are used to escape reality are not helpful, Schultz says.

“Some people use the psychic realm to escape their body, to avoid real life and to disconnect,” she says. “An example of this is staying in a relationship that is not good and spending time in the psychic world to fantasise that it’s all OK and as a way to avoid taking action.”

Your psychic sense can also become a problem if your top chakra (the energy centre through which psychic information is received) is too open and you getting information you are not choosing to receive. If this is the case, seek the help of an experienced psychic to learn how to create create healthy boundaries around your psychic ability.

Part of the integrity of being strongly psychic, says Schultz, is not to engage in a “reading” without a person’s permission. “It is very important not to tap into other people’s energy or psychic unless they have specifically asked you to. “It can be confusing and unsettling for the person if you start giving them information when they have not asked for it.”

If you are receiving strong information about someone, ask them is they’d like you to share it with them. If they say no, you need to let it go.

DEVELOP YOUR SIXTH SENSE

* Meditate. This makes time just for you and puts you more in touch with your inner world. It creates stillness within so messages and information can come. Each day, simply take 10 minutes to sit with your eyes closed. Observe your breath, self-talk and feelings. Allow yourself to just be, and to have whatever feelings are there.

* Send out a question. After a week of meditating 10 minutes a day, start the meditation by sending a question out to the universe. For example, is it time to change job? Is it right to stay in this relationship? Why does my child get sick a lot? Sit in silence and note what comes to you. Write down your first thoughts and what is happening in your body.

* Record your dreams. Dreams tap into what’s in our unconscious. Write down your dreams the moment you wake up each day. Do this for about two to four weeks to see if there is a recurring theme. Ask a question before you go to sleep and ask for the answer to come to you first thing in the morning.

* Use affirmations. Say to yourself each morning and night: ’I choose to develop my psychic ability (or intuition)’ or ‘I choose to trust my intuition’ or ‘I can get information that will help me.’

* De-clutter your home. This will give your mind less to focus on in the external world so you can more easily tune into your inner world.

TAKE A COURSE

If you want to work as a psychic, find either a course or a mentor - an experienced psychic you trust. Before enrolling in a course, find out what topics are covered. Ask about the experience and background of the teacher. Use your intuition to work out which is the best option for you.

BELIEVING IS SEEING

Your core beliefs about yourself and about life will shape how you interpret information you receive.

Schultz says it’s important to discover what core beliefs you have running. For example, if your belief is ‘I can’t trust people,’ it’s likely that you won’t trust your inner knowing. If your belief is ‘I am not safe,’ it’s likely that you won’t feel it’s safe to receive psychic information.

There are many modalities that can support you to explore your core beliefs so you can develop your psychic side. These include breathwork therapy, inner child therapy, counselling, kinesiology or bodywork, such as massage.

SOMETHING FOR FUN

Get together regularly with a few like-minded girlfriends. Each person brings a piece of jewellery or a small object that belonged to someone important to them who has passed over. The item should have belonged to just one person. Don’t reveal anything about the object or the person who owned it. Each person has a turn at holding the object and writes down what vibe, information or sense they are picking up from the object. When everyone has had a turn, each person shares the information they received.